I interviewed my FCA leader from Myrtle Grove Middle. He helped me to get through middle school, and advises me on how to live a good Christian life. Here is some of his great advice:
1. RYAN: What is the most important message or belief that you hope I will take with me and remember throughout my entire life?
MR. W: Pretty much the things we talk about at FCA are things that I feel very strongly about, the continual things about FCA is that your faith needs to belong to you and that true faith cannot be taught it has to be learned. And that means you have to put work in it, in order to truly figure out your faith for you, or faith according to Ryan, the gospel according to Ryan. And, I guess, secondly, would be that our whole… part of what we talked about today, bottom line, it’s about love. And the best definition of the Christian faith is we’re all screwed up, but God loves us anyway, and as long as we remember that, and think about the grace that Jesus talks about, then you’ll be fine.
2. RYAN: How have you followed this advice in your life? What difference has this belief and/or message made in your life?
MR. W: Well, what I just talked about, I guess, if I didn’t believe it, it would be hard for me to teach FCA about it and try to walk that walk every day at school, because you know, you can’t talk about the love of God on Friday, and then cuss and slap a kid on Monday morning, it has to be real, and if I did try to live by those things then I’d be a hypocrite, so I try real hard to live my advice or the things that other people have given me to help get me through, so, I mean, I kinda have to follow that advice if I’m gonna talk to you guys about it every Friday.
3. RYAN: What do you suggest I work on to be a better Christian?
MR. W: Um, let’s see. Well we all have so many things to work on, [that] we could all make a list. For me to tell you what you need to work on would be me kind of judging you, personally, and I can’t really do that. You probably know the things you need to work on more than I do, because they are your day to day things. You know the bible says to be kind, one to another, and I heard someone add to that “because we’re all fighting a tough battle with stuff personally”, so for me to tell what you need to work on, would be kinda, be covering over you and telling you that, when you’re the one that really knows what you need to work on, more so than I do.
4. RYAN: How do you help yourself to be a better Christian that I could use as advice to myself?
MR. W: Um, well, with me personally it’s reading the word of God. It’s getting in the word of God, and trying to, uh, to learn as much as I can about the big picture of the gospel, or taking little bits and pieces and trying to apply it to my life… and it’s much more than that, um, you know, I’m always on the lookout for FCA lessons, which means I’m always on the lookout for God talking to me, or God sharing something with me, or listening to someone who knows more than I do. And the bottom line, it’s just about looking at the big picture, but also, kinda being a sponge when it comes to life, always looking at a situation as “what can I learn from this?” or “how can I be a better person off of it?”, whether it’s good or bad.
5. RYAN: What is your best advice for getting through to someone with the Gospel?
MR. W: To not force it. To wait for them or wait for a door or window to be opened. I’ve always found that when you’re trying to force it, it gets worse, you know, like going to someone’s door and knocking on it or sometimes street evangelism and that stuff doesn’t necessarily work because people have to be open to the message. So, you have to just talk to God, and, you know, ask Him for the opening, and when he gives it to you, jump in with both feet, but wait until it comes from God or that person to jump in, don’t… don’t push it, because when you push it, they build a wall, and don’t want to hear it.
